


Pressure

by tresa_cho



Category: Digimon, Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Adventure, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Shameless, digimon - Freeform, gen - Freeform, self-gratification
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-03-22
Updated: 2011-03-21
Packaged: 2017-10-17 04:58:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tresa_cho/pseuds/tresa_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tense negotiations with a new Federation planet are crumbling when a virus threatens to destroy an entire world. The Enterprise is sent to deescalate the situation and save the lives of a nation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written purely for rawr_balrog @ lj. This is her fault. And hers alone. It is also shameless. Very, very shameless. There are romantic pairings/moresomes, but the official category for this story is adventure.

“Captain, message from Starfleet,” Uhura's voice rang out over the gentle chirping of the comm panels. Jim leaned back in his chair.

“Put it up,” he instructed. Admiral Greene's face appeared on the screen, cut through with lines of interference. “Uhura, can you make the picture any clearer?”

“No, sir, there's something trying to break up the signal,” she called back.

“What can I do ya for, Admiral?” Jim asked.

“You must return to San Fransisco,” the image of the Admiral intoned. Jim frowned.

“Why? We're en route to the sixth quadrant,” Jim pointed out. “What happened to our orders?”

“You must return to San Fransisco,” the Admiral said again.

“Is everything all right? What's the emergency?” Jim leaned forward in his chair, gripping the arms.

“Quickly.” The image cut out. Silence fell over the bridge.

“Lieutenant, contact Starfleet,” Jim ordered. Uhura whirled in her chair and quickly tapped out the commands to the computer. Admiral Greene's image flashed up on the screen again. “Sir!” Jim started. He was cut off.

“You must return to San Fransisco.” The image blanked out again. Jim cast a look at Spock, who was staring at his computer intently.

“The message is indeed originating from Starfleet, Captain,” Spock said. “The Admiral's voice print matches. It appears authentic.”

“Why isn't he using any codes?” Jim asked. “There's a reason we have codes. So that we can communicate to each other in times of emergency.” Jim stared at the empty screen, well aware that every face on the bridge was turned to him. He inhaled. “Uhura, send missive to the Nandarans. Tell them we're going to have to postpone our meeting. Emergency at home. Sulu, turn us around.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Spock, you have the conn,” Jim said, standing. Spock acknowledged as Jim made his way off the bridge. Jim walked towards MedBay, taking the last turn and slammed into the doors. He recoiled, staring incredulously at the portal to Bones' domain. Frowning, he stepped back and took a step forward again. No movement from the supposedly automatic doors. He rapped on the door with his knuckles. “Bones?” he called.

No answer.

“Bones!” he shouted. He flipped his communicator open. “Scotty, I need you up at MedBay right now. Bring your kit, the doors are sealed shut.”

“Captain, it appears there has been a catastrophic breach in the Medical Bay.” Spock's voice issued over the communicator coolly. “The doors are sealed to prevent further loss of atmosphere. The computers are indicating severe loss of pressure in the room.”

“There's nothing here, Spock,” Jim shouted. Scotty ran towards him, tossing his kit on the ground as he slid to a halt. “Get these doors open,” Jim ordered. Scotty overrode the hydraulic controls. “Come on, come on,” Jim hissed through grit teeth as he and Scotty both wedged their fingers in the crack of the doors and pulled. It slid reluctantly back on its tracks, and Jim felt air rush past him into the room. “Further!” he urged. Scotty grunted and strained.

They opened the door enough to slide through. “Check for hull breach,” Jim snapped at Scotty. The entire medical team was collapsed on the floor. Jim stepped over a fallen nurse and crouched beside Bones. He tipped the doctor's face towards him, and rested a hand on his chest, feeling a shuddering rise and fall. Bones' pulse was weak but present, and as Jim pushed his hair back from the doctor's face, he could hear Bones' rasping struggle for air.

“Nothin', cap'n,” Scotty said, trotting up to him. “There's no damage anywhere.”

“Captain? What is the status of Medical Bay?” Spock's voice crackled over the comm. Jim took a steadying breath.

“There's no breach, Spock. The room evacuated itself,” Jim said.

“That is most improbable, Captain,” Spock commented.

“I know, Spock. Get anyone trained in advanced first aid up here now, and any medical staff who are off-shift. The on-duty Medical staff is unconscious,” Jim ordered.

“Acknowledged,” Spock said. Jim slipped his communicator back into his pocket.

“Help me, Scotty,” he muttered. Scotty grabbed Bones' ankles and together they hefted the doctor into one of the biobeds. They made their way around the room, lifting the crew from the floor into beds as the off-duty staff trickled in, pulling clothes on. Finally, M'Benga entered the room. He yanked his medical coat on and made his way to Jim.

“What happened?”

“Onset of asphyxia,” Jim said. “The room was in the process of evacuating the atmosphere. I'm not sure how far along they are.”

“All right, let's get masks on these patients,” M'Benga shouted to the room. “Let's go, people. Doxson! Don't just stand there. I gave you an order, son!” Jim was shouldered out of the way as a nurse moved over Bones, placing an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. Jim stared at Bones' monitors, his hands gripping the bed rails firmly. “Kelly! What the hell are you doing!? Are you trying to kill him!?” M'Benga practically flew across the room.

Bones stirred, opening his eyes. He scowled and tore the mask from his face with a sharp gasp. “Bones, hang on,” Jim said, reaching for his wrists.

“Let go, Jim, I'm fine,” he growled, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He tried to stand, but his knees gave out. Jim grabbed him.

“Whoa, Bones,” Jim grunted. He guided Bones to sit on the mattress. “Bones, what happened?”

“I don't know. One minute we were fine and then I started feeling dizzy. Christine dropped and then I blacked out. It felt a bit like asphyxiation. That's all I know,” Bones said with a groan. “Yea, splitting headache. Not enough oxygen in the room. What happened?”

“The room thought there had been a hull breach. It locked down the doors and the vents,” Jim said. “Scotty had to override the hydraulics to get it open.”

“What's going on, Jim?” Bones asked hoarsely.

“I don't know. We're returning to San Fransisco, we've got a message from the admirality. There's something strange going on here,” Jim said as a nurse rounded the bed. Bones pushed her hands away.

“I'm a doctor, dammit,” he snarled.

“Bones,” Jim admonished. Bones sighed heavily and allowed the nurse to check his vitals. Jim reached for Bones' coat and tossed it at him as the nurse moved away. Bones snatched it out of the air and put it on. “I'll keep you posted, Bones,” Jim called as he walked towards the door. Bones nodded and waved him away.

Jim stormed back onto the bridge. “Talk to me, Spock,” he said the instant he entered.

“Systems are malfunctioning all over the ship, sir,” Chekov cut in. “There seems to be no pattern to it. Engineering just lost lights.”

“It appears there is something in the computer system itself,” Spock said, standing from his terminal. “I cannot trace it, but it possesses the methods and strategies of a computer virus.”

“A computer virus?” Jim repeated incredulously. “How did a computer virus get onto the Enterprise? Don't we have protections for that sort of thing?”

“It is possible the computer virus entered our system during the transmission from Starfleet,” Spock proposed.

“You're saying the virus came from command?” Jim surmised.

“It is a possibility,” Spock said again.

“And now it's in our system,” Jim confirmed. Spock nodded. “What can we do about it? Can you contain it and destroy it?”

“We have been trying, sir, but it is unlike anything we've ever seen before,” Spock said. “It will take a bit more time to develop a plan of action.”

“Work on it,” Jim ordered. Spock nodded and returned to his console. “Uhura, open communications with the entire ship. I want to hear everything that's going on.”

“But sir-”

“Do it, Uhura,” Jim snapped. She scowled at him, but a second later Jim heard static ricochet over the intercom system. The sounds of the entire ship jumbled through the speakers. “Sulu, get us home as quickly as possible.”

“Yessir.”

“Plot the trajectory by hand. Do not use the computer,” Jim added. Sulu nodded, pushing himself away from his desk to grab a PADD. “Pen and paper, Sulu,” Jim said quickly. Sulu tossed the PADD under his desk and elbowed Chekov for a piece of paper.

“Engineering, report!” Jim snapped.

“Lights are out, cap'n, but other than that we're fine!” Scotty's voice shouted over the cacophony of noise from the ship. “Oh, they're back on, cap'n!”

Jim glanced at Spock. “It appears the virus has moved to another portion of the ship,” Spock said. The sound cut off from around them. Jim raised his eyes to the speakers in the ceiling.

“Uhura...” he urged.

“Nothing, Captain,” Uhura said immediately. “Nothing in or out. I'm picking up no communications of any kind in the area.”

“Great. The sooner the better, Sulu,” Jim said resignedly. “We're in a floating death trap.”

“I've been telling you that since we took off.”

Jim turned to see Bones stepping down towards the Captain's chair. “Hey Bones,” Jim said lightly. “Don't talk that way about my girl.” He recognised the pinched look Bones had about his eyes. He still had a headache, and it was most likely a migraine by now, but he'd rather have Bones at his side than somewhere else on the ship.

“I talk that way about all your girls,” Bones responded. “Geoff has MedBay, everyone's fine. For now. What's going on?” Jim briefed him, and as he finished the intercom turned on again and Jim's ears were greeted with the sounds of people moving all over the ship.

“How's that course going, Sulu?” Jim pressed.

“Almost finished, sir,” the pilot responded instantly. “Chekov, check my math.” He handed the paper to Chekov, who scanned it quickly.

“It is all right,” Chekov said.

“Do it,” Jim urged. Sulu punched a few things into the console in front of him. The ship shuddered and went into warp. Jim gripped the arms of his chair. “How long till we're home?” he asked.

“Should be a matter of minutes, sir,” Sulu answered, eyes intent on the navigation controls before him. Chekov leaned over his shoulder, also watching. The bridge fell silent. They dropped out of warp without issue, and Earth swung into view. The bridge exhaled as one, shooting cautiously relieved smiles at each other. Then, the red alert siren screamed over the intercom and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Jim clawed his way out of unconsciousness with a gasp. He opened his eyes and groaned. The white ceiling of the Academy hospital greeted him. He sat up to the sound of monitors blipping beside his bed, and he winced as he tore out the leads connecting him to some sort of machine. The machine started wailing and he scowled, reaching over to kill the power to the annoying thing.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, blinking back the headache swimming at the base of his neck. A nurse with a clipboard entered his room. “Hey, what happened?” Jim asked. The nurse didn't get a chance to answer before Admiral Pike rolled through the door.

“Kirk, what are you doing here?” he barked instantly. Jim blinked.

“We were recalled. We received a message from Admiral Greene while we were in transit. Our ship started malfunctioning and we turned around and returned to Earth as was instructed in the message,” Jim said. “Spock said something about a virus. Sir, what happened? The last thing I remember was being on the Enterprise.”

“The Enterprise dropped out of warp dangerously close to Earth and had to be pulled back,” Pike said.

“We calculated the trajectory by hand,” Jim said. Pike accepted the explanation, nodding solemnly.

“Sulu?”

“Yessir.”

“You got lucky, Kirk. Again.” Pike wheeled himself into the room, crowding Jim back onto the bed. Jim sat down hard on the mattress. “We already lost a ship as a result of this virus. It's infected everything down to the textbook downloads.”

“So it _was_ a virus, then, sir?” Jim asked. Pike eyed him fiercely.

“ _Is_ a virus. It's still very much alive and it's still causing a terrifying amount of damage. Since you're here, we're going to use you and your crew. It's a complicated mission and we've brought in a team of specialists. You'll find the mission somewhere between first contact and black ops.” Pike swung his chair around. “Yagami!” he yelled out into the hall.

The commanding officer that walked through the door grinned as he laid eyes on Jim. He strutted into the room and saluted Pike before holding a hand out to Jim. Dark brown eyes flashed amusement as the Asian man introduced himself, “Yagami Taichi. I'm glad you and your crew made it down safely.” He spoke flawless standard.

“This is Commander Yagami, leader of the Strategic Internet Diplomacy Squad,” Pike said.

“SIDS,” Yagami supplied helpfully. Jim frowned at them both.

“Internet diplomacy?” he repeated slowly. Yagami nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets, apparently heedless of the admiral in the room.

“Space isn't the only frontier,” Yagami said cryptically. Jim stared at him.

“Get comfortable. You two are going to be working together to fix this. You've got all the power you need in your own teams, and frankly that's all I can spare right now. All our forces are attempting to return to their home systems. We're not the only base that's been attacked. Outposts all over the Federation are reporting various systems failures.” Pike steepled his fingers under his chin. “Kirk, you and your crew are grounded until repairs can be made to your ship. You are to report to SIDS until then Enterprise is space-worthy again.”

“What exactly does SIDS do, sir?” Jim asked again. Pike smiled wryly and didn't answer.

“Take care of him, Yagami. He likes getting into trouble,” Pike said as he made his way out of the room. Jim scowled.

“Wait, what about the rest of my crew! Sir!” Jim called after him, annoyed. Yagami clapped his shoulder.

“Relax. We'll take care of you,” he said happily. “You ready to be up and moving? I want to introduce you to my team.”

“I'm not going anywhere till I find my crew,” Jim said. Yagami stared at him.

“Your crew is fine,” he said. “They're already down with my team.” Jim scowled.

“Why do I think I'll be kept informed?” he grumbled as Yagami led him from the hospital room. “I'm just the captain. I don't need to know these things...” Yagami led him out into the bright Californian sunshine and across a quad. He walked at a quick pace, skirting groups of students milling about the Academy between classes. He slipped into the Computer Sciences building and quickly turned towards the stairs leading to the basement. Jim recognised the stairwell. “Hey, I got busted here freshman year!” he said. “What's down here that's so important the cadets aren't granted access?”

“You'll see,” Yagami maintained, infuriatingly tight-lipped.

“I remember why I don't like you special ops guys,” Jim growled as Yagami swiped his access card through a key panel. The lights flickered and the door opened for them. “Your types are the reason my hacking skills are amazing,” Jim commented as he stepped through the door. And froze. Yagami slammed into his back, not expecting the sudden stop. The man's hands closed over Jim's shoulders as Jim stared in open-mouthed wonder at the room before him.

A modern rendition of Ground Control lay out in front of his eyes, with no less than thirty enlisted manning computers around the room. One wall of the room was taken up by a gigantic flat-screen monitor. Not a holo, but an actual, Google-era flat-screen attached to the wall.

“Welcome to SIDS command,” Yagami said, clapping Jim's shoulder.

“Jim!”

Jim turned, almost melting when he heard Bones' familiar drawl piercing through the low hum of computers whirring. Bones walked towards him, a tall, lanky Japanese man following close behind, a slightly starry look in his eye. Bones strode up to Jim and gripped his arm tightly. “You all right? They wouldn't let me look at you. Something about cameras and security,” Bones said.

“I'm fine. I think. What's going on here?” Jim glanced around. “What is this?”

“I've told you, this is SIDS. Hey Jyou, how's the orientation going?” Yagami directed the question at the man standing behind Bones. The man pushed a thick set of glasses up his nose and shrugged helplessly. Yagami laughed.

“This is Doctor Leonard McCoy,” the one called Jyou said with a wave of his hand. “He's the most famous doctor in the Fleet. I've read every single one of his essays and papers--”

“All right, kid, enough with the hero worship,” Bones cut him off. “I told you before. I'm just a normal guy like you.” Jyou's starry expression didn't waver as he watched Bones move beside Jim. “Kid's got a serious case of star-shock,” Bones muttered in Jim's ear.

“Where's everyone else?” Jim asked, trying to steer the conversation towards something slightly more productive.

“We've already sent them through.”

Jim turned to face the man who had spoken, a shorter Asian with reddish-brown hair and dark eyes. He held a laptop in one hand and two odd looking handhelds in his other. “Here,” he said, shoving one at Jim. Jim grabbed it and flipped it over and over in his hands, inspecting it. It looked almost like a compact tricorder. It even had a clip so that he didn't need a holster dragging his belt down.

“They ready to go, Koushiro?” Yagami asked.

“Ready as they'll ever be,” Koushiro nodded. “Everyone else made it through without any problem. Takeru says Nyota already met her partner. “Miyako, you have the conn!” Koushiro called as he rounded a line of computers, moving towards the giant wall monitor. A pretty girl with vibrant purple hair grinned and waved at him.

“Good luck!” she called, nearly hopping out of her seat in her enthusiasm.

“They're all so happy,” Jim murmured to Bones. “Are all special ops this cheerful?”

“I'd hazard a guess not,” Bones breathed back, also gripping a mini-tricorder in his hand. “I can't imagine a political assassin singing while putting his girl together.”

“Keep your arms and legs inside the tube at all times,” Yagami instructed in a sing-songy voice. “If, at any point during the ride, you feel ill, close your eyes and count to ten! Right, if I can get you to hold your digivices up to the screen for me, like that, thanks. Hit it, Miyako!”

Jim didn't have a chance to ask what was being hit when something latched around the back of his neck and _yanked_.


	3. Chapter 3

“Up, Jim. Come on.” Bones' hand fisted in the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet.

“Ow. Ow. Stop,” Jim protested, pushing Bones' hands down. He glanced around and tensed, his hands twisted in Bones' shirt as well. “What...” His question trailed off as he failed to form a coherent sentence. They were in a forest, densely grown with plants every shade of the rainbow. “Uh. What happened to the room with the computers? Are we still on Earth?”

“That depends on what you mean by 'Earth'.” The man called Koushiro stepped from the foliage with little effort. His laptop hung from a bag strapped across his back, but he was no longer in the Starfleet uniform. Instead, he was dressed in a fairly snappy Google-era suit, black with a white button up shirt and thin black tie.

“I mean the planet Earth. The solid, massive sphere that is in orbit around Sol,” Jim said. “How much clearer can I get?”

“Technically we are still 'on Earth',” Koushiro said. “For now, at least. There's no way of telling how far off Earth's grid we'll go while we're here though. Now that the Federation has formed, the intranet extends past the furthest reaches of humanity's capacity to understand.”

“We're... in the intranet?” Jim asked cautiously.

“Uh.” Koushiro frowned. “I suppose that's one way of putting it. The easiest way to comprehend would be to imagine this world as a parallel universe codependent on our universe of origin.”

“So anything we do here effects our universe?” Jim asked.

“Not necessarily. Only in some areas where the boundaries are weak. Or, if there is a particularly malicious function trying to upset the balance the two worlds have,” Koushiro said. “Oh, but if you die here it will not end pleasantly for you in our universe. I do not recommend testing what happens. Shall we join the others?”

“Sure. Right.” Jim forced himself to follow the shorter man as he made his way through the thick forest. Bones did not disappoint, letting out a steady stream of complaints as they trudged through the wilderness. He was a doctor, dammit, not a Boy Scout. Koushiro finally led them to a small clearing, where Jim heard voices he recognised.

“Keptin! Look!” Chekov burst into view, holding an incredibly adorable Golden Retriever puppy in his hands, waving the poor thing in front of Jim's face. Jim was almost taken in by the eyes, but then noticed one of the puppy's legs was fully constructed out of metal. “This is koinumon, and he is to be my partner,” Chekov went on excitedly.

“Don't hurt it, Chekov,” Jim said breathlessly, staring at the dog-android... thing. Chekov grinned wildly and practically skipped towards another enlisted of Japanese descent, undoubtedly part of Yagami's team.

“Oh _my_ ,” a very feminine voice cooed from his left. Jim turned. An extremely pretty girl with vibrant pink hair smiled at him. She was wearing a very not-regulation top and boots. She held her hand out. “Tachikawa Mimi. You can call me Mimi.” Her auburn eyes sparkled mischievously.

“James Kirk,” Jim responded, noting the strength of her grip. “Captain of the USS Enterprise.” Her eyes widened slightly.

“A starship captain! Here? What's the occasion, hot stuff?” she asked slyly. Bones choked back a burst of laughter behind him.

“Mimi! He's your commanding officer!” a cactus squeaked from the ground. Bones and Jim both jerked away, horrified that the plant had spoken. Mimi laughed at them.

“This is Palmon,” Mimi said casually. Jim stared at the plant as it waved at him cheerfully.

“Bones. Talking plant,” Jim said stiffly.

“I see it, Jim,” Bones said back, just as surprised.

“We have witnessed stranger things, Captain.”

Jim exhaled in relief as his First Officer came into view, crossing the clearing to reach him. “Spock! Please explain what's going on here. Why are there plants talking? And why are we all wearing different clothes? And why is there a floating cube over your shoulder!?”

Spock remained expressionless as the aforementioned cube swirled in the air, leveling itself with Spock's eyes. Spock stared at it. “Fascinating,” he murmured with a slight twitch of his eyebrow.

“Indeed,” the cube agreed. Jim choked.

“Talking cube!” he pointed out helpfully. Hands slammed down on his shoulders and he jumped.

“Relax, Kirk. Just take a few deep breaths. It's startling for new-comers. Sit down if you have to.” Yagami's face appeared in front of him. “We're just going to wait here for a bit to see if your partners can find us. If not we're going to have to leave without them. They'll catch up with us eventually. I've already sent a scout party ahead. We have to keep moving. We're way too easy to track with a group this big.”

“Who's tracking us?” Jim clung to the one bit of conversation he managed to understand. Yagami stared at him.

“The virus,” he said slowly, as if trying to explain something complicated to a child. Yagami grinned at Jim's clueless face. “Don't worry, you'll pick it up as you go. That's how we all learned. Right, guys?” A chorus of cheers answered him. “You're in good hands, Kirk. Relax. Try to have some fun.”

“Yes, because almost dying is always tremendous fun,” Jim said with a scowl. He followed Yagami as the man weaved in and out of the loose mesh of starship crew and SIDS. “Will you level with me what's going on here? Why didn't I know about this?”

“Nobody knows about this,” Yagami said. “You think people would use computers the same way if they knew there was a whole universe inside? Think about what happened on your ship, on all the Fleet ships. Just imagine the sort of power you could possess if you realised that anything you programmed effected a living, breathing being. And that could then effect our universe. It's unimaginable the power contained in this universe. You've only just scratched the surface. We've been working here for years and we still haven't gotten off this planet even with all Starfleet's technology.”

“Taichi!”

A moderately sized orange dragon-dinosaur-lizard flew at Yagami and tackled him to the ground. Yagami laughed and rolled the... dinosaur off. “Agumon! We have _guests_ ,” Yagami protested. The orange dinosaur sat up and blinked huge blue eyes at Jim.

“Hi!” it yawped. Jim boggled.

“This is Agumon, my partner,” Yagami said, standing and brushing the dust from his uniform.

“Y-Your partner?” Jim stared at it. “I-It's a dinosaur.”

“Digimon,” Yagami corrected. “Digital monster. They exist in this universe, alongside ours. Each person in our universe has a digital partner in this one, as you've seen with your crew. Don't worry, we'll find yours. Oh, looks like your CMO found his.”

“Jim! There's a... There's a turtle following me!” Bones stared at an oddly coloured turtle waddling around him on the ground.

“That's Yertlemon,” Agumon said helpfully. “He's very good at precision work.” Even as Agumon spoke, the turtle's shell opened with a series of clicks and several merchanical arms climbed out, waving in the air.

“Hold still!” the turtle demanded. “You have several Leechmon on you!” Bones froze as the mechanical arms reached for him and tugged at tiny black spots on his uniform.

“Uh, thanks,” Bones muttered when the creature withdrew its arms into its shell. The turtle beamed. Off to the side, Spock was poking the hovering cube with a cautious finger. It giggled and flickered through a rainbow of colours.

“I've gone insane,” Jim breathed. Yagami laughed and clapped his back.

“Just wait till you see what Agumon can do,” he murmured in Jim's ear. Jim stared at him as he meandered away from Jim towards a few members of his team. Sulu conversed in rapid-fire Japanese with one of the female members of SIDS. Jim smiled, noting the pink bird and strange mini-elephant thing on the ground beside them both.

The ground rumbled ominously under Jim's feet. He glanced at Yagami, who raised his head towards the forest with a concerned look on his face.

“Taichi!”

“Get down!”

Jim was tackled from behind as a fireball exploded over his head. He rolled, sitting up, tangled in someone else's limbs. “If you don't pay attention, you're going to get killed,” a husky voice warned him. Jim found himself staring at a man in the SIDS uniform with blonde hair and very blue eyes.

“Yamato! Are you all right?” Yagami dropped to his knees beside them, grabbing the man's shoulder.

“I'm fine, what was that?” The man named Yamato allowed himself to be tugged to his feet.

“Looks like another Kuwagamon,” Yagami said. Yamato groaned.

“Why is it always Kuwagamon? Gabumon! Watch this guy for me. I'm going with Tai.”

A small, wolfish creature in a blue and grey streaked coat waddled over to him. “Hello,” it said in a deep voice. “I am Gabumon. I've been Yamato's partner for over fifteen of your years.”

“That's quite an impressive run,” Jim grunted, pushing himself to his feet. “Wait. How old is he?”

“About twenty-five,” Gabumon supplied generously. Jim stared.

“That'd make him... ten when he met you,” Jim pointed out. “That's a little young to be enlisting in Starfleet.”

“Yamato was not in Starfleet when we first met. He was a child from the place you call Japan,” Gabumon clarified. “Together, we saved your world and ours many times over.” Jim boggled. He was starting to feel a bit more respect for this special operations team.

“When I was ten, I was driving cars off cliffs,” he said, breathless with awe. “Not saving the world.”

“We did what we had to, because we were the only ones who could,” Gabumon said. Another fireball tore over their heads, and then the trees split around them. A massive, red bug-like creature burst from the trees with an ear-shattering roar. Jim gasped and scrambled backwards, out of the way of a large leg stomping the ground where he crouched. Gabumon grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him backwards, away from the bug.

“What is that!?” Kirk yelled over the bug's shrieking.

“Kuwagamon,” Gabumon said. “He's very territorial and doesn't like strangers.” Jim rolled out of the way of another stomp. Gabumon pulled him behind a tree as a flick of green fire split the air. A pink bird the size of a turkey darted through the air. “Biyomon will be able to take care of him.”

A low growl from the forest forced Jim to turn. He watched as a pair of glowing eyes emerge from the trees, connected to a snarling muzzle with glistening teeth bared. Jim reached out for Gabumon frantically. Gabumon leaped in front of Jim. “Sir! Return to the others!” he urged. Jim didn't need to be told twice as the terrifying creature launched itself with a push of powerful muscles. He clambered at forest roots, hauling himself towards the clearing as Gabumon wrestled with the monster much larger than him.

He tumbled into the clearing and found himself face to pincers with the red bug thing. He drew his phasor and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. With a sharp hiss of frustration, he threw the ceramic weapon at the bug before whirling and diving back into the forest, the sounds of the creature thundering behind him. He somehow didn't twist an ankle as he pushed, shoved, and tripped his way through the mass of trees. The red bug was close behind him. The sounds of tree branches snapping masked his sharp panting.

And suddenly the forest ended. The ground dropped away and he plummeted. He threw out his arms, trying to steady himself and protect his head, but a rough strike sent and explosion of stars to his vision before he dropped into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

“Jim! Jim!”

Jim groaned. Something pounded on his chest. Something warm and fuzzy and... slightly heavy. He opened his eyes to two giant, luminescent brown eyes almost as large as salad plates. The eyes were set into a round ball of white fuzz with two obnoxiously large ears sticking out the top and a tail whipping Jim's hip.

“Jim!” the fuzzball squealed.

“Argh,” Jim moaned. “Tone it down. I think I just fell off a cliff.” He moved his head. Bad idea. Pain flared, and when he lifted a hand to his head it came away red.

“Why'd ya do that? Humans can't fly!” the fuzzball laughed.

“I didn't do it on purpose,” Jim said, wincing. “Where'd that... giant bug thing go?”

“Kuwagamon? He flew away after you fell down the cliff,” the fluffball said.

“Jim!” Bones' voice rang out above them.

“Down here!” the fluffball bellowed back. “He's fallen down the cliff!”

“Oh god, stop yelling,” Jim groaned miserably. Minutes later Bones' hands were on his face, turning him gently. “Bones, I fell off a cliff.”

“Yea, I can tell,” Bones grumbled. He peeled back an eyelid and clicked a penlight. The light didn't flash on. Bones stared at the light in his hand with a disgusted look.

“I got it,” the turtle at his side said. An arm poked out of its shell and hovered over Jim's face. A light glistened in his eyes. He flinched away, but Bones' hand held him in place.

“You have a mild concussion,” Bones said, slapping Jim lightly on the cheek. “Idiot.”

“Jerk,” Jim grunted back. Bones pulled Jim into a sitting position and the white-furred ball tumbled from his chest onto the ground with a laugh. “What is it?”

“Pafumon,” Yertlemon provided. “A Fresh digimon. Just hatched, if I had to guess.”

“Well what are you then?” Jim asked, swinging his gaze at the turtle.

“I am a Rookie level. I've been around for a bit,” Yertlemon said.

“Kirk, are you all right?” Yagami knelt beside him, panting from his considerably more controlled climb down the cliff face. “You shouldn't go running off like that by yourself. Not when this is your first trip to the Digiworld.”

“I didn't do it on purpose.” Jim scowled. “That bug thing chased me and then suddenly the ground disappeared.”

“I thought Gabumon was supposed to stay with you?” Yagami said, a confused look on his face.

“Yea, he was. Something bigger and toothier crept out of the forest while he was with me. I don't know what that one was, but he held it off while I tried to get back to you guys,” Jim said. He groaned and slumped back against Bones' propped-up leg. “So far this excursion is ranking Not Fun.”

“Missions aren't usually considered fun,” Yagami said quietly. Jim closed his mouth. The ridiculousness of the situation had pushed back the deadly seriousness of their mission. Whatever was going on in this... parallel universe was effecting his world. Despite the cheerful nature of the critters he'd come across, they all were willing to fight whatever was waiting for them in this plane of existence. And if his headache was anything to go by, he could still get very hurt within this... digital universe. “Do you need something for your headache?” Yagami asked. The disappointment on his face was crushing.

“I'm allergic,” Jim said with a slight wave of his hand. The SIDS member with glasses he had met in his universe held up a bottle.

“Hypo-allergenic,” Jyou said with a grin. “I have a bunch of weird allergies too. Here.” He tossed the bottle to Jim, who glanced at Bones first. His CMO snatched the bottle out of Jim's hand and peered at it.

“What does this say?” Bones asked. “I don't recognise this script.”

“It's in the language of the digimon,” Jyou said unhelpfully. He started into a list of the ingredients which neither Bones nor Jim recognised. “I developed it with Koushiro specifically in this world, and it only works here. Trust me, I'm pretty much allergic to water. It works perfectly.”

“If I die, I will totally blame you,” Jim said, popping the cap to the bottle open. He grabbed a pill and dry-swallowed before handing the bottle back to Jyou, who stuck it in the large messenger bag he carried. Almost instantly, his headache abated. He blinked, surprised. “Nice. This would be useful back home.”

“It only works here,” Jyou said again. “Because it's part computer-program and part herbal-medicinal. In the real world it's as effective as a sugar pill.”

“What's going on down there?” Mimi's voice echoed through the valley Jim had landed in. “Is everyone all right?”

“We're fine, Mimi! We're on our way back up,” Yagami shouted back. He stood, brushing his trousers off. He offered a hand to Jim, who took it and was pulled to his feet. A tall, slender woman with short orangish-brown hair smiled at Jim disarmingly.

“I'm Sora. This is Birdramon. We'll help you back up to the others.” Her grin warmed Jim. “Hang on tight, now.” She pulled his hands around the massive bird's leg and he gripped firmly. Pufamon leaped at him and latched onto his leg firmly, wrapping his ears around Jim's calf. The bird screeched and flapped its huge wings, taking off without further warning. They soared out of the small valley and up to the forest.

“Thanks,” Jim said awkwardly to Sora. He wasn't sure if he should be looking at the bird or her.

“You're welcome. Don't go diving off cliffs anymore, though. You had us worried,” she said, not unkindly. Jim found himself liking her tremendously. She crouched and stroked the small fuzzball clinging to Jim's leg. “Hey there,” she cooed. “I'm happy you found your partner!”

“Thanks!” the puffball squeaked excitedly. “I'm happy too!”

“Hey, where's Yamato?” Yagami asked as he hauled himself up to their level, Agumon close behind him. Sora stood and looked around.

“I don't know. He went to find Gabumon when his digivice went off. That was right before Captain Kirk went over the cliff,” she said, concern in her voice. The rest of Jim's crew and the SIDS group trickled through the forest to join them on the edge of the cliff.

“Tentomon,” Koushiro said urgently. The ladybug with the spiked wings saluted and took off, buzzing into the forest without a word.

“Biyomon, go with him,” Sora said as her giant bird glowed and shrunk down to the little pink turkey Jim had seen earlier. The bird lifted itself into the air and followed the ladybug... thing. It wasn't half a minute when Tentomon's voice rang out through Koushiro's 'digivice' – which was apparently the name of the small handheld Jim and Bones had been given.

“We found him, Koushiro! Bring Jyou, quick!”

Yagami's face went white and he darted into the forest, followed closely by Sora and the rest of the SIDS group.

“Come on,” Jim ordered. “We're sitting ducks out here.” He charged after them, following the sounds of the others forcing their way through the forest. Jim found the SIDS group huddled around a wrecked ring of bushes and trees. Jim recognised it as the spot he had left Gabumon fighting the forest monster. “Bones!” he snapped as he drew closer to the SIDS group. Jyou was already in the center, bending over Yamato's limp body. Bones pushed through the crunch of SIDS to crouch on Yamato's other side.

Yagami was grabbing Yamato's shoulders, propping him up from the forest as Jyou used a small device to scan the man's body. Bones' tricorder was out, but wasn't making any noise.

“That's not going to work,” Koushiro pointed out, his face pale as Yagami's. “Real world tech isn't functional in this universe unless I patch it.” Bones scowled at him and put the tricorder away, relying on the old-fashioned way of diagnosing. He slid on a pair of latex gloves and ran his hands over Yamato's body, searching for breaks as Jyou did whatever it was he was doing.

“We have to get him to a hospital,” Bones said quietly. “He's losing a lot of blood.” Jim swallowed hard. Yamato's blood was dark red laced with black, dripping onto the forest floor and seeping into Bones' and Jyou's uniforms as they worked.

“We can't,” Jyou said tersely. “He's been tied to the digital world. If we try to leave with him, he'll die. His consciousness will separate from his physical body and he'll be rendered comatose instantly. Sora, I need my kit. Now.” Sora nodded and glanced at her bird-like partner. The pink thing nodded and started glowing, growing into the oversized bird that had lifted them up the cliff. It took off swiftly and disappeared over the trees. “We have to get him stabilized and stop his blood loss.”

“What could have done this?” Yagami asked, voice breaking.

“I saw it,” Jim said quickly. “It looked like a massive wolf with glowing red eyes.” Yagami looked at Agumon, who shrugged.

“It doesn't sound familiar,” the dinosaur said. “It could be a part of the new virus.” They fell quiet, with only the sound of Yamato's desperate gasping for air breaking the dense forest silence. Sora's hand rested on Yagami's back, rubbing in comforting circles as they waited anxiously for Birdramon to return.

The bird dove into the violently-made clearing with two white cases gripped in its claws. It dropped them beside Jyou who immediately snapped them open and started throwing stuff on the ground. He handed some things to Bones, who had long since slipped into his doctor mode and worked to stabilise the SIDS man.

“What do we do?” Sora asked quietly. “We can't leave him alone. It's too dangerous with so much unknown about the virus.”

“We'll have to split up,” Yagami said miserably. Sora shared a look with Mimi. The pink-haired woman bit her lower lip and shook her head fractionally.

“We're stronger together,” Sora pointed out gently, returning her attention to Yagami. “Tai, with Yamato out we've lost one of our strongest players. We need you with us.”

“I'm not leaving him,” Yagami said sharply.

“We can't do it without you,” Sora said, her voice low and fierce. “Look at what it's already done to Yamato. If it gets any stronger the consequences will be unfathomable. Tai, we need you with us. We have to beat it, for Yamato's sake and for the sake of both worlds, but we can't do it without you.”

Jim felt like he was eavesdropping on a conversation he and his crew shouldn't be hearing. A low, intimate conversation between friends who had been together for years and years and seen unimaginable horrors side by side.

“We can leave him with Gennai-” Sora started.

“No,” Yagami instantly snapped.

“Tai...” Mimi started gently.

“No!” Yagami maintained.

“Who is Gennai?” Jim asked, cutting into their discussion coldly. Everyone turned to him.

“He's a guardian of this world,” Sora said. “He's helped us many times in the past. He knows a lot about this universe, and he's always been a sanctuary for us when we need it.”

“At this point, Yamato is a dead weight,” Jim said, directing a fierce look at Yagami, who glared back at him from under unruly bangs. “We leave him with this Gennai character, and we carry on. We can't focus on fighting if Yamato is dragging us down.”

“He's _not_ dragging us down,” Yagami snarled. Sora's hand gripped Yagami's shoulder in a white-knuckled grasp, forcing his attention to her.

“You know he's right, Tai,” she whispered. “You're our leader, remember?” Yagami closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Fine,” he said shakily. “Fine. We'll leave him and Gabumon with Gennai.” Jim stepped into the group to help Yagami lift Yamato from the ground. Yagami shrugged him off. “I've got him,” he said. The tone of his voice sounded horrible compared to the cheerfulness the leader had displayed just half an hour before. Jim didn't like hearing it.

“I'll call Takeru and tell him what happened,” Koushiro offered.

“No, don't. I've sent him on a mission. He'll just get worried and come back, you know how he is,” Yagami said. Jim turned a quizzical look at Yagami. “Takeru is Yamato's younger brother,” Yagami supplied.

“And he's your 2IC?” Jim asked cautiously. Yagami nodded. “Isn't that against regulation?”

“My sister is under my command,” Yagami said with a slight shrug, cradling Yamato's limp body against his chest. “It's worked for us for years. Starfleet lets us bend the rules a bit because of our history together.” He turned to the orange dinosaur next to him. “Agumon.” The dinosaur nodded and started to glow. And grow. And grow.

In under a second he was taller than the trees; a fully formed orange dinosaur with a bone helmet and blue stripes across his back. He reached down and scooped Yagami and Yamato up. Gabumon was lifted into his other hand. “Sora, Koushiro, run protection for us,” Yagami ordered from his new height. Sora and Koushiro nodded, their partners glowing and growing into much larger flying creatures who burst towards the sky.

“How do you do that?” Jim asked as they started to move, the large dinosaur crashing through the trees, carving a path for the smaller monsters to follow.

“Digivolve?” Koushiro asked. Jim nodded. “Well, that is where the human partner is key. Strength of will seems to be a major factor in a digimon's evolution to the next level. When the human partner is threatened, the bond between human and digimon is particularly powerful. The digimon can gather enough energy to grow stronger to protect the human partner. We call it digivolving, and it's how we've beaten many of the viruses and malware we've found during our time here. There are many different ways to digivolve, depending on the programming of the current sector. For instance, a few years after we first entered the digital world...”

Koushiro and Jyou launched into a story about someone called the Digimon Kaiser, a kid who thought the digital world was a game to be conquered, and didn't realise his actions effected live creatures and humans. The Dark Spires had suppressed the 'normal' digivolution technique, so the new set of kids had to work around it using something called Digimentals. Jim's head was spinning by the time they reached the edge of the forest, which broke away into a scorching desert.

“Interesting,” Koushiro said, pausing his story to stare. “This was not here the last time we traveled here.” Jyou scanned the horizon, looking for something.

“And how old were you when you did all this Digimon Kaiser stuff?” Bones asked, still hung up on the story.

“We were thirteen. Hikari and Takeru were younger,” Koushiro answered by rote. His focus was on the desert. “There's something wrong here. We have to be careful. Everyone stay with your partner.” Jim's tagalong fuzzball leaped onto his leg again, grabbing on tightly. He ignored it as best he could. Bones picked up his turtle critter. When Jim turned to make sure his crew was still with him, he saw Uhura had her fox-like creature on her back. The broad smile on her face hinted that she was not entirely unpleased with the thing clinging to her. Spock was still trying to duck away from his cube nonchalantly and failing miserably.

Their trek through the desert was hot. Koushiro tried to keep them distracted by talking about the different properties he had discovered about the world during their various missions. Jim tuned him out like he tuned Bones out when he went into one of his medical rants. He still absorbed information, but his attention was on the desert around him.

“You said this desert wasn't here the last time?” Jim cut Koushiro off suddenly. Koushiro looked startled.

“Yes. The digital world changes every now and again, usually only in times of turmoil. I assume this is the virus' doing,” Koushiro said.

“Can you predict it?” Jim asked.

“No. Even constant monitoring will not show a tectonic shift in the digital world,” Koushiro said. “We haven't been able to follow it. That's still one of the mysteries around here. One of many.”

“And our technology won't work here?” Jim clarified. Koushiro nodded.

“Even a simple magnetic compass won't work in this world. I'm on the verge of discovering why, but I can't quite get past a few lines of code that don't make any sense. To get my computer working here, I had to rewrite my entire operating system in the digital world's language, which is quite a bit different than what our computer systems use. It uses binary, but on a relatively quantum level--”

“Fascinating.” Spock appeared out of nowhere to walk beside them. Koushiro nodded.

“How old were you when you figured that out?” Jim asked hesitantly.

“Oh, that was our first trip here. I was, uh, nine, I think,” Koushiro said humbly. “Somewhere around there.”

“What do you mean by 'relatively'?” Spock pursued with interest as Jim boggled at the shorter man. _Nine!?_

“Well, the way our universe is broken into positives and negatives, ups and downs, protons and electrons... this digital universe's most base constituent is binary code. I've theorised that the reason for a lot of the the random generation of certain aspects has to do with the fact that binary was derived from our universe literally _creating_ this one and then interacting at different points. Binary can't be a basic physical attribute, it's created by humans.”

“It is not a law recognised by the fabric of space-time,” Spock said.

“That's one way of putting it. The digital world is very unstable. It's amazing that it's even here at all. Time passes at a different rate, outside the laws of relativity, the land appears and disappears, monsters evolve and devolve... The digital world is its own universe that spawned from ours,” Koushiro said. “It's interacted with our world at many different points over the years, obviously most notably when my friends and I dropped into the world from our summer camp.” He slid in the sand and Jim caught his arm instinctively, keeping him upright. “Thanks,” Koushiro said, regaining his footing. “This universe is still pretty dependent on the electromagnetic force, from what I can tell, but responds to it differently. I wrote my dissertation on the relation between chemical reactions in the human brain and the surrounding digital environment.”

“I would enjoy reading your dissertation and providing feedback on your theories,” Spock said. Jim rolled his eyes. The science people were at full throttle. As soon as Koushiro realised he had an attentive audience in Spock, he launched into terminology only found in Jim's hyperdimensional physics books. The ones he had read while drunk and wrestling Bones for his bag of chips. He remembered a little bit, but not enough to keep up with Koushiro's excited monologue.

He dropped back to walk beside Bones. “How you doing, Bones?” Jim asked.

“I'm hot, I'm tired, I'm thirsty, and I'm in a computer,” Bones griped. “How do you think I'm doing? Are we there yet?”

“Almost,” Sora spoke up from slightly behind Bones. She sounded out of breath, and when Jim glanced at her, her face was flushed under her cap. “Don't worry, it's not much farther. You can make it.”

“I never said I couldn't make it, darlin',” Bones said, flushing in embarrassment. He scowled and kept trudging forward, slipping and sliding in the sand. “I have sand in my shoes.”

“Everyone has sand in their shoes,” Jim said amiably.

“I don't!” squeaked the fuzzball around Jim's leg. He glanced down. He had almost forgotten it was there. “I don't have shoes!” it pointed out helpfully.

“Good point, little man,” Jim said, forcing down the utter weirdness that he was talking to a ball of fur clinging to his leg. “Can't collect sand if you don't have shoes...”

“Mon! I'm a mon!” it insisted.

“All right, little mon,” Jim said. “How much further, Sora?”

“Should be just over that ridge,” she said, swiping sweat-soaked bangs from her eyes. “If he hasn't moved.”

“He's still there,” Yagami called from his elevation high above them. “I see his place.” They crested another dune and Jim saw a small adobe hut jutting out of the massive waves of sand. Jim and his crew stared as the SIDS squad trudged towards the hut without further comment.


End file.
